Director Stewart Thorndike Talks 'Lyle,' Her Satanic Revenge Breakup Movie

Stewart Thorndike is an out filmmaker who is beguiled by the horror genre and loves telling bewitching stories, usually about women.

She draws inspiration from eclectic directors such as William Wyler, Nicholas Ray, Roman Polanski and Stanley Kubrick, whom she actually worked with.

Her intense new film, "Lyle," is an homage to Polanski's "Rosemary's Baby," only with lesbians! The film cost under $10,000 but you'd never know that from watching the movie, thanks to the Thorndike's spellbinding artistry.

EDGE spoke with the writer-director (who is currently working on three female driven horror films) about "Lyle," the horror genre and her brush with the great Stanley Kubrick, among other topics.

A tribute to 'Rosemary's Baby'

EDGE: How did you develop the 'Lyle' script and where did the idea to make the film come from?

Stewart Thorndike: 'Lyle' was originally a web series that was inspired by my ex-girlfriend, Ingrid Jungerman (a 'Lyle' cast member), who does a web series called 'F to 7th.' And I thought it'd be cool to do a horror series because so many people are doing comedies. But then I quickly realized that horror is so sensual that you don't want to break it up. I was also elated because it was really working. So I begged my cast and crew to come back and shoot a couple more afternoons. And we managed to cobble it together to be this longer version -- almost feature running time.

The story came about because I wanted to have a kid and my girlfriend didn't so I turned her into a child killing satanic meme. And made a revenge breakup movie.

But she's getting her revenge now because she's shooting her feature in a couple of weeks called 'Women Who Kill.' She'll say it's not about me but it is.

EDGE: 'Lyle' felt like a loving tribute to 'Rosemary's Baby,' but also very original.

Stewart Thorndike: I got the idea really quickly and jumped out of the shower and scratched it down. And when I was done writing it, in this act of passion, I thought, 'Oh my God, I just wrote "Rosemary's Baby!"' But it's with lesbians, so that it was pretty cool.

I don't think of it as a remake because I didn't set out to do that but I didn't care that it was like 'Rosemary's Baby.' I didn't think too much about it. I made sure not to re-watch the movie. I think Polanski has a very different entry point into his horror films than I do. 'Rosemary's Baby' is about evil lurking in the world that appears normal and how you shouldn't trust the world. For me, 'Lyle' is about something different. It also has feminist threads with selling your first-born son (or two daughters) that ties into Satan being sexist.

Not much time or money

EDGE: What was the shooting like?

Stewart Thorndike: We didn't have much time or money so... I just decided to make some crazier bolder choices. I thought it would be a better strategy than just shooting it regular and being safe. It was a gamble...I put a lot of energy into trying to do something with few resources.

EDGE: Can you speak to casting Gaby Hoffman in the lead. She is amazing and looked so comfortable in the genre.

Stewart Thorndike: Gaby is crazy good. I met her a couple of times through her boyfriend. And I was totally taken with her and I knew I wanted to work with her. I was a nobody, I hadn't done anything. I just impulsively reached out and said, 'would you be in this horror film that I want to make?' And she read it and said, 'Well I don't like horror and I don't understand why all these people have to die.' And I said, 'Okay but will you still be in it?' And she said, 'Okay.' And that was amazing. And crazy timing, too, because right after that she started doing so many projects, and got two Emmy nominations.

I fully plan and hope to work with her in the future. She's like magic. She can make any line work. To do a movie with a satanic plot can be campy if you're not careful, but she just grounds it. She brings her whole emotional self to it. She doesn't think about being in a horror film. She said over and over in interviews that she still doesn't like horror. She doesn't really get it. (see below)

EDGE: It's rather wonderful seeing lesbian characters onscreen that aren't angsting about their sexuality. Satanic elements notwithstanding, they're just trying to lead their lives.

Stewart Thorndike: I'm just hungry for movies like that. I hate seeing coming out movies or angsty sexuality movies because it just doesn't relate to my life. I just want to see them dealing with human problems. Not gay problems.

EDGE: As an out filmmaker, do you feel there's responsibility among LGBT artists to focus on LGBT lives?

Stewart Thorndike: I never have objectives like that. My stories are just usually dealing with personal, philosophical pain, issues that are gnawing at me that I'm just trying to struggle through. My next movie is all about vulnerability. I don't really care about the sexuality or ethnicity of my characters. I'm pretty open. I just want great actors all the time. And I'm pretty open minded to all ages. Narratively, I do feel like the most romantic storylines are lesbian storylines. The stakes are higher.

Talking monsters

Watch the trailer for "Lyle: